DIY Concrete Monster Eggs

The element of surprise makes for some quite unique crafts. This method of casting DIY concrete monster eggs with balloons has some unpredictability to it and therefore creates different outcomes each time. You just never know! I’m sharing some of my tricks and tips so you too can ‘lay’ some unique eggs…

The First Pour:

Get the balloon ready by putting it onto the end of the funnel or bottle. This concrete mix is very quick setting so you want to be ready. ( Be safe when mixing cement and wear a good dust mask and gloves)

You will not need a huge amount of mix, just about enough to fill a balloon when it is not blown up. I would mix for one at a time. This mix incorporates the water fairly quickly so add slowly. Or add mix to water til you have a slurry that flows but isn’t too runny.

Notice how it is already changing as I pour it into my make-shift funnel. WORK FAST! Tap the funnel to make the mix flow into the balloon. The balloon should be full to the top. Take it off of the end of funnel and hold over the end of pump. Blow up the balloon to about 8-9″ length. The one end of the balloon seems to stay pointier. Tie it off.

(Sorry, I was working too quickly to take pictures and juggle the tools and balloon.)

Now comes the part that is somewhat mysterious. You want to keep moving and tapping the balloon to get the mix to flow around inside ALL OVER. Tap and turn, and turn slowly but consistently for a while, 5 minutes or so. You can’t see through, but can feel the weight when it is in one section. The more coverage the better.

Once you feel it isn’t flowing any more, place it somewhere where it will not roll away.

Unmolding:

After 1 hour it is ready to unmold. The heat has made the balloon change where there was no mix. Poke the empty part CAREFULLY. It will start to pull away on it’s own.

Here comes the surprise element; each one has a different shape of where the mix flowed. Some areas are so thin they may crumble. Don’t fret too much. It is such a little amount of mix and balloons are cheap, you can make more. Sometimes I leave some of the balloon on when I add some more mix.

Look at where you’d like the openings to be and carefully break away some pieces. If there are small holes you can put some packing tape to close them for the next pour. Cracks are great too! Sometimes the tied end will need sanding but leave that until it has been strengthened!

Subsequent Pours:

Once you are happy with the shape, mix some more concrete that flows quite well. It should be a bit thinner since the dried shape will suck some of the moisture out of it right away.

Swirl the mix around coating the thin walls. Let it flow right to the edges and even drip out. It gives a rustic look as if it had hatched.

The concrete mix will stay put quite quickly inside the egg and you can add more. You will get the hang of it. If you’d like it really thick you can repeat these steps. You will also notice how it wants to roll. If you like, you can pour some more in to weigh down the part you’d like it to sit on (it’s little bottom)

Finishing Your Concrete Eggs:

Once it is set (one hour) it is ready to paint. I didn’t let it leach since I painted it. If you would like it plain, you could then soak it.

I like the metallic look so opted for the gold interior. Paint it on to cover the inside of the egg.

Paint the gold (or other metallic) To the edges. With a tiny brush paint the drips as well. To add more dimension I add a bit of white at the edges on the outside. It is really rough and ‘scrubby’ to look like a mottled egg. This concrete is very shiny when molded on smooth surfaces. The egg is shiny when cast.

Scrub it around, add a bit of black if you like. You could even dry-brush a tiny bit of metallics.

There were a few cracks that I enhanced with a fine black brush line. Squiggle away…

That was quite easy wasn’t it? The inside isn’t flat since I poured a few times.

Fill as you like:

Each one ends up different with some having more openings than others.

These became gifts with the small plants that I added. Make sure you set the plant deep enough to weigh down the bottom since they are still roly-poly and should not tip.

Love it when you create with concrete, Barb! Your eggs turned out great. What a fun, creative project. Did any balloons pop before you were ready :-)? Guess that wouldn’t matter too much since you’re using RapidSet.

Very cool! What’s next? Any more concrete projects planned for the summer?

Thanks! No, none of these popped, thankfully! I had some pop when I was doing the portland cement and yarn soaked ones. It’s un-nerving to be sprayed with concrete all of a sudden. I’m pretty sure it depends on the ‘sharpness’ of the ingredients!

I have been making these eggs as well. I have a suggestion. I had trouble with the funnel thing.
I’m a cake decorator and so I have decorator bags. I attach the decorator tip coupler to the decorator bag. This makes it easy to fill the bag with the cemental and then attach the balloon then squeeze the cement into the balloon. See mine on instagram.co./vennasnature/

WOW! What a fun project! Definitely going to make some of these😄. I have been wanting to make concrete spheres for years, after seeing the work created by Little & Lewis for their Bainbridge Island Home. Last year I found some of those giant balloon type balls with a handle made for kids to bounce on. In a couple of days I am heading to Arizona for a couple of months. I will bring one of these balls with me and give it a try. He he he how exciting!

I have been trying a project similar to this and am having troubles. Each time i go to take the balloon off, the egg shatters to pieces from the balloon deflating and “crushing” it. I am wondering if it would be the material i am using? I am using a quickset concrete, do you think i should try cement? Is there a difference?

Is your concrete the same as what I have used? This one has worked well for me and has always amazed me at it’s strength. The other problem could be that it is too thin. Cement is usually falsely referred to when meaning concrete. There is portland cement in most concrete mixes. I don’t think it would work as a sole ingredient. I have had to add layers after opening but have not had them shatter. The balloon usually does rip across slowly so I can be careful with the opening. Which mix are you using?

I have not tried that one yet. I am using Quikrete – quick setting concrete. It has lots of rocks and gravel in it, could this be part of the problem? Yours looks pretty smooth in the photos. Mine is more lumpy.

Today was the day I’ve been waiting to do this project all week and I’m sad to say it was a complete flop. I had to add more water than indicated because otherwise it was just a paste so I think I may have used the wrong cement. It never became hard. Can you please tell me which cement exactly I should use??? Thanks in advance, Addie

Yes, this project is very much dependant on the right concrete. (the link is in the post) RapidSet Cementall is a very unique fast-setting concrete that is quite strong at a thin consistency, I’m afraid I have not found another quite the same. You can also get it here If you can’t find it there are other similar orbs that are made ‘inside’ a mold. Maybe it would be better to start with another project if you are new to concrete… I hope that helps! Happy concreting! Fails are all part of the game and we learn from them 😉